The Warming Drawer is the ultimate accessory to compliment your Heatlie BBQ. Whether you're a footy club cooking hundreds of sausages on the weekend, or have a large family to cook for, you can find use in this excellent addition.
If you're umming and ahhing about whether to get one, have a read of this guide to help your decision making process...
First off, how does the Warming Drawer work?
The Warming Drawer works by trapping residual heat beneath the burners to keep food at a stable, warm temperature. It is attached underneath the body of the BBQ. If your BBQ is on legs you should be familiar with how the leg tubes are inserted into the main body's stub legs, then held together with a grub screw. The warming drawer features 4 hollow tubes extending out the four corners that slot over the leg kit frame. The BBQ then comes down on top to secure everything in position.
Before installing, you should remove the galvanised steel base plate from beneath the BBQ. This goes between the front and rear body panels and can easily be removed by undoing the 4 bolts holding it in place. Doing this allows sufficient residual heat to radiate from beneath the burners and into the warming drawer below.
The Warming Drawer is available in all three sizes and all three material/finishes, although the drawer itself will always be stainless, and the frame will be matched to the selected colour/finish.
What can I put in the Warming Drawer?
Basically anything that will fit! The most common use is sports clubs/schools/community groups cooking sausage sizzles, where once a batch is cooked, room needs to be made on the cooking plate for more, so the best way to keep them hot is down below in a warming drawer. This gives you some serious flexibility and versatility with how you cook.
Even for domestic cooking at home, if you cook up a large batch of meat, you can place it all in the warming drawer and have people help themselves from there, sort of like a serve-yourself buffet from your Heatlie!
We've heard feedback from customers saying food stayed at an edible temperature after several hours of sitting in the warming drawer.
What about cleaning?
Though the warming drawer internals are made from stainless steel and are very easy to clean, you may be able to save yourself the clean-up by using foil trays within the drawer itself. Most sizes should fit, but best to measure up to see what your drawer can handle.
If you do have a mess to clean up, just spray and wipe down like you would a kitchen countertop to remove grease, splatter and loose food debris.
Can I install a warming drawer on a BBQ without legs?
Yes you can, with a catch. A BBQ without legs, or as we call it a "Built In BBQ", doesn't have any leg tubes for the warming drawer to sit on. So we make some leg extensions (sold separately) to insert in the stub legs that the warming drawer frame can sit on.
If you still aren't sure, don't hesitate to reach out and ask questions. Warming drawers can be retrofitted anytime later down the track, and do fit older models of BBQ as well. Happy cooking!